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Feminist Studies B.A.

Information and Policies

Introduction

Feminist studies is an interdisciplinary field of analysis in the humanities that investigates how relations of gender are embedded in social, political, and cultural formations. The undergraduate program in feminist studies provides students with a unique interdisciplinary and transnational perspective. The department emphasizes theories and practices derived from multiracial and multicultural contexts. Some topics you will find in our curriculum include: Black/Africana studies; colonialism and decolonization; trans, queer, and sexuality studies; media studies; law, politics, and social change; and science and technology studies.

Feminist studies prepares undergraduates for a variety of careers. The Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree in Feminist Studies provides excellent grounding for undergraduates who have career aspirations in, for example, law, health, non-governmental organizations, museum curation, politics, media and film, research institutes, journalism, community organizations, and social services.

Students wishing to pursue doctoral work will also find that interdisciplinary training in feminist studies equips them with theoretical and methodological strengths in most disciplines and applied research fields including American studies, ethnic studies, science studies, anthropology, communications, and legal studies. Specialists in feminist studies are employed as consultants in industry, higher education, and human resources. State and federal government agencies employ people who have special training in understanding gender and race relations. Educational institutions need specialists to develop and administer feminist studies programs, women’s centers, and other institutional structures designed specifically to study and assist marginalized peoples, including women.

Academic Advising for the Program

Email: fmst@ucsc.edu
Phone: (831) 459-1478

Feminist studies advising is held in Humanities 1, Room 415A. Drop-in hours are posted on the Feminist Studies website. Students can make an appointment by using the Slug Success application found under Resources in their student portal (MyUCSC). 

Transfer students should also consult the Transfer Student Information and Policy section for specific requirements.

Program Learning Outcomes

Students who complete the feminist studies major should demonstrate the following skills upon graduation:

Outcome 1: Application of Feminist Approaches to Critical Interpretation

Students should be able to:

  • Discuss a diversity of feminist approaches to understanding social, political, cultural, and scientific phenomena
  • Connect feminist inquiry to a variety of other social phenomena including but not limited to race, nation, class, and sexuality
  • Distinguish and evaluate assumptions underlying data and claims
  • Place divergent interpretive frameworks in dialogue
  • Perform close reading of texts and/or other objects

Outcome 2: Original Research

Students should be able to:

  • Develop specific and detailed research questions
  • Identify appropriate primary sources for feminist research projects
  • Collect, evaluate, and analyze source material using appropriate theoretical framework(s)
  • Identify key findings and draw conclusions for research and/or application

Outcome 3: Argumentative Communication

Students should be able to:

  • Effectively formulate written arguments to frame research questions and analyze source material
  • Present appropriate evidence to substantiate claims
  • Logically organize arguments over the course of a research paper
  • Use appropriate mechanics/grammar

Major Qualification Policy and Declaration Process

Major Qualification

Undeclared students may declare the feminist studies major at any time. While specific courses are not required in order to declare, students ideally will have completed or be enrolled in FMST 1, Feminist Studies: An Introduction.

How to Declare a Major

For a single major, complete the Petition for Major Declaration form and sign it. For a double major or major/minor, complete both the Major Declaration form and also an Academic Planning form. Both of these forms must be signed by you and by each departmental advisor.

Familiarize yourself with the content of the Feminist Studies website. Schedule a meeting with the feminist studies advisor during which you will fill out an online feminist studies major requirements worksheet, develop a curriculum plan, and officially declare the major.

If your proposed program exceeds your expected graduation term (EGT), you must visit your college for review and approval of extension of enrollment.

Students should submit a petition to declare as soon as they reach their declaration deadline quarter.

Students petitioning when the campus declaration deadline is imminent (i.e., in their sixth quarter, for students admitted as frosh), will either be approved, denied, or provided with conditions (e.g., completion of some courses with certain grades) that will be resolved within at most one more enrolled quarter.

Transfer Information and Policy

Transfer Admission Screening Policy

No major preparation courses are required prior to transfer. Prospective students are encouraged to complete the Intersegmental General Education Transfer Curriculum (IGETC) or to complete all UC Santa Cruz general education requirements before matriculation.

Getting Started at UCSC as a Transfer Student

Transfer students are encouraged to declare the major as soon as possible to be assured entrance into the required core courses. Please see the section How to Declare a Major for more details.

Transfer students may use an articulated equivalent of FMST 1 to satisfy the FMST 1 requirement. Please check assist.org for current articulation agreements.

If you have completed prior college-level coursework in feminist studies, women's studies, or a similar field of study, please contact feminist studies advising as soon as possible and provide a copy of your unofficial transcript and course syllabi so the coursework can be reviewed for potential fulfillment of feminist studies major requirements.

The Feminist Studies Department will consider, upon petition, which UC-transferrable courses from other institutions are acceptable. FMST 1, one feminist studies (FMST) lower-division course, and FMST 100 must be completed before the senior year so that the comprehensive requirement may be completed in the senior year.

Transfer students are strongly encouraged to enroll in FMST 105, Feminist Methodologies, a course designed specifically to aid in the transition to UCSC's feminist studies major for incoming transfer students. FMST 105 is offered every fall. This course will also satisfy the one upper-division core course requirement.

FMST 105Feminist Methodologies

5

Letter Grade Policy

Letter grades are required for 10 of the 11 courses applied toward the feminist studies major. FMST 100 and the comprehensive requirement course (FMST 194 or FMST 195) must be taken for a letter grade.

Course Substitution Policy

Feminist studies is an interdisciplinary major that includes courses taught by affiliated faculty in other departments (see the Courses page of the Feminist Studies website for current year offerings). However, feminist studies majors must take a minimum of five courses at UC Santa Cruz taught directly in the Feminist Studies Department, (i.e., courses designated FMST, not including FMST 193, FMST 198, or FMST 199). At most three courses may be transferred to count toward the major, including three Education Abroad Program (EAP) courses or courses from another university.

Double Majors and Major/Minor Combinations Policy

The feminist studies major works very well as a double major with fields of study such as community studies, critical race and ethnic studies, sociology, politics, education, legal studies, literature, psychology, and more.

Study Abroad

As stated in the course substitution policy, a maximum of three courses may be transferred to count toward the major, including courses from an Education Abroad Program (EAP).

Honors

Feminist studies awards honors and highest honors in the major. At the end of each quarter, a faculty committee meets to review graduating students’ files. Students are considered for honors and highest honors based on their cumulative GPA, calculated from grades earned in coursework and the comprehensive requirement undertaken for completion of the major. For honors, students must earn a minimum GPA of 3.70 in the relevant courses, while for highest honors, the GPA must be 3.90 or higher. Writing a thesis is not a requirement for receiving honors or highest honors.

Requirements and Planners

Course Requirements

Feminist studies majors must complete 11 courses including a comprehensive requirement in the Feminist Studies Department program. The three core courses--FMST 1, one lower-division feminist studies course, and FMST 100--must be taken at UC Santa Cruz absent a petition. A minimum of five courses at UCSC taught directly in the Feminist Studies Department, (i.e., courses designated FMST, not including FMST 193, FMST 198, or FMST 199) must be completed for the major.

Lower-Division Courses

Take the following course:
FMST 1Feminist Studies: An Introduction

5

And one of the following courses:
FMST 10Feminisms of/and the Global South

5

FMST 13
/CRES 13
California Indian History

5

FMST 14Popular Culture in South Asia

5

FMST 15Gender, Sexuality, and Transnational Migration Across the Americas

5

FMST 16Media Histories--News and New Media

5

FMST 18Black Feminist Ethnographies

5

FMST 20Feminism and Social Justice

5

FMST 21Religion in American Politics and Culture

5

FMST 30Feminism and Science

5

FMST 31Disability Studies

5

FMST 40Sexuality and Globalization

5

FMST 41Trans Gender Bodies

5

Upper-Division Courses

FMST 100Feminist Theories

5

Students are required to complete FMST 100, Feminist Theories, at UC Santa Cruz absent a petition.

Electives

Students are required to complete seven upper-division (100-199), 5-credit electives. One independent study (FMST 199) may count toward the elective requirements. FMST 193 or FMST 198 (internship) may be used to count toward the elective requirements.

Feminist studies is an interdisciplinary major that includes courses taught by affiliated faculty in other departments (see the Courses page of the Feminist Studies website for current year offerings). However, as noted elsewhere, feminist studies majors must take a minimum of five courses at UC Santa Cruz taught directly in the Feminist Studies Department, (i.e., courses designated FMST, not including FMST 193, FMST 198, or FMST 199). At most three courses may be transferred to count toward the major, including three Education Abroad Program (EAP) courses or courses from another university.

The Feminist Studies Tentative Curriculum is the definitive list of courses offered during the current academic year that will satisfy major requirements and is comprised of courses offered both from within the Feminist Studies Department but also with approved courses originating from many different departments throughout UC Santa Cruz.

Please consult feminist studies advising with any questions regarding this requirement.

FMST 102Feminist Critical Race Studies

5

FMST 105Feminist Methodologies

5

FMST 112
/POLI 112
Women and the Law

5

FMST 115Gender, Sexuality, and Transnational Migration Across the Americas

5

FMST 117Post Zora Interventions: Art, Activism and Anthropology

5

FMST 119
/CRES 119
Indigenous Feminisms

5

FMST 120Transnational Feminisms

5

FMST 123Feminism and Cultural Production

5

FMST 124Technology, Science, and Race Across the Americas

5

FMST 125Race, Sex, and Technology

5

FMST 126Images, Power, and Politics: Methods in Visual and Textual Analysis

5

FMST 131The Politics of Matter and the Matter of Politics

5

FMST 132Gender and Postcoloniality

5

FMST 133Science and the Body

5

FMST 135Topics in Science and Sexuality

5

FMST 139African American Women's History

5

FMST 145Racial and Gender Formations in the U.S

5

FMST 150Mediating Desire

5

FMST 175Gender and Sexualities in Latina/o America

5

FMST 188Topics in Feminist Studies

5

FMST 189Advanced Topics in Feminist Theory

5

FMST 193Field Study

5

FMST 198Independent Field Study

5

FMST 199Tutorial

5

Approved Electives in Affiliated Departments

For a list of approved electives for the current year, see the Feminist Studies Tentative Curriculum list

Division of the Humanities
APLX 112Language and Gender

5

CRES 100Comparative Theories of Race and Ethnicity

5

CRES 101Research Methods and Writing in Critical Race and Ethnic Studies

5

HIS 106BAsian and Asian American History, 1941-Present

5

HIS 109ARace, Gender, and Power in the Antebellum South

5

HIS 110AColonial America, 1500-1750

5

HIS 112American Feminist Thought, 1750-1950

5

HIS 113CWomen and American Religious Culture

5

HIS 121BAfrican American History: 1877 to the Present

5

HIS 128Chicana/Chicano History

5

HIS 131Women in Colonial Latin America

5

HIS 140CRevolutionary China 1895-1960

5

HIS 140DRecent Chinese History

5

HIS 140EWomen in China's Long 20th Century

5

HIS 145Gender, Colonialism, and Third-World Feminisms

5

HIS 150FEngendering Empires: Women in Modern Japan and Korea

5

HIS 151AMedicine and the Body in the Colonial World

5

HIS 159BWomen and Gender in Ancient Egypt

5

HIS 194A
/FMST 194N
Gender, Class, and Sex in Shanghai

5

HIS 196HSex and the City--The History of Sexuality in Urban Areas Around the Globe

5

HISC 113History of Capitalism

5

HISC 125Queerness and Race

5

LIT 112PGwendolyn Brooks

5

LIT 121MBlue and Brown: Race, Gender, and Blackness

5

LIT 121OBody Theories and Embodied Poetics in Contemporary American Poetry

5

LIT 146GQueer(y)ing Victorian Literature

5

LIT 156AThe Gothic Imagination in Fiction, Film, and Theory

5

LIT 161BAfrican American Women Writers

5

LIT 162CSo Many Little Lives: Representations of Trauma in Asian American Literature

5

LIT 166ARepresentations of Gender in Medieval Literature

5

LIT 166EWomen's Literature

5

LIT 167EThe Vampire in Literature and Popular Culture

5

PHIL 147
/FMST 168
Topics in Feminist Philosophy

5

Division of Social Sciences
ANTH 110G
/CRES 110G
Westside Stories: Race, Place and the California Imaginary

5

ANTH 110Q
/CRES 110Q/FMST 110Q
Queer Sexuality in Black Popular Culture

5

ANTH 110TMotherhood in American Culture

5

ANTH 130ECulture and Politics of Island Southeast Asia

5

ANTH 130F
/CRES 130
Blackness In Motion: Anthology of the African Diasporas

5

ANTH 130LEthnographies of Latin America

5

ANTH 130ONative Feminisms, Gender, and Settler Colonialism

5

ANTH 131Gender in Cross-Cultural Context

5

ANTH 134Medical Anthropology: An Introduction

5

ANTH 140
/CRES 140
The Body in Rain: Environmental and Medical Intersections

5

ANTH 148
/FMST 148
Gender and Global Development

5

ANTH 158Feminist Ethnographies

5

ANTH 160Reproductive and Population Politics

5

ANTH 194MMedical Anthropology

5

ANTH 194XWomen in Politics: A Third World Perspective

5

CMMU 151Sex, Race, and Globalization

5

CMMU 161Gender Health and Justice

5

EDUC 135Gender and Education

5

ECON 183
/LGST 183
Women in the Economy

5

LALS 144Mexicana/Chicana Histories

5

LALS 172Visualizing Human Rights

5

LALS 175Migration, Gender, and Health

5

LGST 111B
/POLI 111B
Civil Liberties

5

POLI 103Feminist Interventions

5

POLI 105B
/LGST 105B
Early Modern Political Thought

5

PSYC 107Gender and Development

5

PSYC 140GWomen's Lives in Context

5

PSYC 140HSexual Identity and Society

5

PSYC 140LWomen's Bodies and Psychological Well-Being

5

PSYC 140QSocial Psychology of Gender

5

PSYC 140TPsychology of Trauma

5

PSYC 149Community Psychology: Transforming Communities

5

PSYC 153The Psychology of Poverty and Social Class

5

PSYC 159ASexual Identity

5

PSYC 159DPsychology of Sexual Aggression

5

SOCY 111Family and Society

5

SOCY 120Gender, Race/Ethnicity, Sexuality and Cultural Politics

5

SOCY 121Sociology of Health and Medicine

5

SOCY 126Sex and Sexuality as Social Practice and Representation

5

SOCY 132Sociology of Science and Technology

5

SOCY 145Sociology of Masculinities

5

SOCY 149Sex and Gender

5

SOCY 150Sociology of Death and Dying

5

SOCY 152Body and Society

5

SOCY 157Sexualities and Society

5

SOCY 156U.S. Latinx Identities: Centers and Margins

5

SOCY 158Politics of Sex Work and Erotic Labor

5

SOCY 172Sociology of Social Movements

5

SOCY 176Women and Work

5

SOCY 187Feminist Theory

5

Division of the Arts
FILM 130Silent Cinema

5

FILM 165AFilm, Video, and Gender

5

FILM 165BRace on Screen

5

FILM 165CLesbian, Gay, and Queer Film and Video

5

FILM 165DAsian Americans and Media

5

FILM 165EChicana/o Cinema, Video

5

FILM 165GGender and Global Cinema

5

FILM 194EInternational Cinemas

5

HAVC 115Gender in African Visual Culture

5

HAVC 140CRace and American Visual Arts

5

HAVC 141FThe Camera and the Body

5

HAVC 170Art of the Body in Oceania

5

HAVC 172Textile Traditions of Oceania

5

HAVC 186Horror and Gender in Art and Visual Culture

5

HAVC 186QQueer Visual Culture

5

THEA 161MSexuality, Gender, Drama, and Performance

5

THEA 161TWomen in Theater

5

The Colleges
CLTE 135Apprenticeship in Community Engaged Research

5

OAKS 150Queer History and Theory in the United States

5

Disciplinary Communication (DC) Requirement

Students of every major must satisfy that major’s upper-division Disciplinary Communication (DC) requirement. The DC requirement in feminist studies is satisfied by completing the comprehensive requirement (FMST 194 or FMST 195).

Comprehensive Requirement

Comprehensive requirement options include a senior seminar taught by core faculty or a senior thesis/project. Completion of the Entry Level Writing and Composition Requirements are prerequisites to FMST 194 and FMST 195

Students who wish to complete FMST 195, Senior Thesis or Project, should consult early with the feminist studies advisor and a prospective faculty advisor. The senior thesis or project option is by petition only, and faculty advisors may request that students complete a Senior Seminar (FMST 194) before agreeing to supervise a senior thesis or project.

Double majors may be able to write a thesis of 50 or more pages over three quarters to satisfy the comprehensive requirements of feminist studies and the second major. The Feminist Studies Department will review and approve or deny proposals for a double thesis on a case-by-case basis.

Students should be aware that not all departments will accept a double thesis. Students who wish to propose a double thesis should consult with both major advisors before the end of their junior year. Such a proposal must be approved by both departments or referred to the Committee on Educational Policy. In evaluating such proposals, the departments will require the student to have completed significantly more work than the minimum required for the comprehensive requirement of each major. The student's work must clearly explain to the reader the relevance of the work to both disciplines.

FMST 194AFeminist Jurisprudence

5

FMST 194BQueer/Feminist Historiography

5

FMST 194CGender and Iconicity

5

FMST 194DFeminist Science Studies

5

FMST 194FChicana/Latina Cultural Production

5

FMST 194GImages of Africa

5

FMST 194HMichel Foucault: An Introduction

5

FMST 194IFeminist Oral History and Memoir

5

FMST 194K
/CRES 190K
Black Diaspora

5

FMST 194L
/CRES 190L
Comparative Settler Colonial Studies

5

FMST 194M
/CRES 190M
Empire and Sexuality

5

FMST 194O
/CRES 190O
The Politics of Gender and Human Rights

5

FMST 194Q
/CRES 190Q
Queer Diasporas

5

FMST 194TTransgender Studies

5

FMST 194U
/CRES 190U
Touring War and Empire

5

FMST 194V
/CRES 190V
Marxism and Feminism

5

FMST 194WPolitics of Space, Time, and Matter

5

FMST 195Senior Thesis or Project

5

CRES 190A
/FMST 194S
Critical Race Feminisms

5

HIS 194NUrbanites in the Global South, 18th Century to the Present

5

Planners

Four Year Plan

  Fall Winter Spring
1st (frosh)      
     
     
2nd (soph) FMST 1 FMST 100 FMST lower-division core
     
     
3rd (junior) FMST elective FMST elective FMST elective
  FMST elective  
     
4th (senior) FMST elective FMST 194 or
FMST 195 
FMST elective
FMST elective    
     

FMST 01 fulfills the CC general education (GE) requirement. Many FMST courses fulfill other GE requirements. 

Two Year Plan for Transfer Students:

  Fall Winter Spring
3rd (junior) FMST 1 FMST 100 FMST elective
FMST lower-division core  

FMST elective

FMST elective*    
4th (senior) FMST elective FMST elective FMST 194 or 195 
FMST elective FMST elective  

*Transfer students are strongly encouraged to enroll in FMST 105, Feminist Methodologies, a course designed specifically to aid in the transition to UCSC's feminist studies major for incoming transfer students. FMST 105 is offered every fall. This course will also satisfy one FMST elective requirement.